I have a bit of a love affair with Mount Hood. Now that the constant overcast skies of the Northwest winter have disappeared, the sky blooms a beautiful, clear blue and the mountains in the distance are striking. Despite that I have caught glimpses of them quite often this summer, they never fail to make me stare in awe. I have car wrecks almost daily because I'm so busy staring, open-mouthed, out my side window.

Though Mount Adams, Mount Jefferson, Mount St. Helens, and even Mt. Rainier can be seen quite clearly on the horizon, there is none so commanding as Mt. Hood. It looks as though it has been painted on the sky; as if it should not really be there, but God was in the mood to watercolor a backdrop today, and he decided on a perfectly symmetrical mountain top capped with snow. I feel as though it could be Everest herself standing proudly in the distance, beckoning us a little closer, or letting us stand, humbled, in her shadow.

With an afternoon off and nothing do to, I took advantage of a particularly beautiful day and caught some shots from the top of Larch Mountain. The view was inescapably gorgeous and I feel very lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the country.

And the coolest panorama ev-ah... (you'll probably have to click on it to see it full scale)